Friday, February 14, 2014

6.7 seconds. Not a lot of time. What can you do in 6.7
seconds? Tonight it simply humbled hearts and brightened spirits. It turned two
rivals into friends for a night.

Prairie Grove Tigers and Farmington Cardinals, the battle of
High Way 62, is another small town rivalry. Up and down highway 62 it’s as big
as Alabama verses Auburn, Seahawks verses 49ers, the Heat verses the Pacers;
especially this year with the stakes on the line.

Both Farmington boys and girls needed to win and run the
table to be the number one seeds for the district tournament and to win the
conference. Prairie Grove could climb the ladder to get a higher seed and break
their rivals hearts. Nothing could be better for Prairie Grove than doing that
on Senior Night in their home gym.

The first game of the night was nothing short of exciting.
Lots of lead changes and in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, the Farmington
girls pulled away for the win. The girls took conference and the number one
seed for district tournament, one down and one to go. Prairie Grove, now a
little angry, was ready to make their mark on the night. Little did they know
it would come in a different way than anticipated.

The Prairie Grove boys took a twelve-point lead on their
rival with eleven minutes left in the game. In those final minutes tempers
began to flare and the Tigers fell apart. They had lost all control of their
emotions. The Tigers had the lead, but played like they were losing. Before the
fourth quarter that lead dissolved into a one-point deficit. The two teams
battled all the way down into the final minute. It was in that final minute
that all the magic began to happen.

Prairie Grove turned the ball over two times and watched the
five-point deficit fall to an eight point deficit. It was over. Farmington had
prevailed over their rival. Instead of the classless chant from Farmington
“Start the Bus”, the Cardinals and Tigers student section started chanting,
“Put McKay in…put McKay in…put McKay in.”

Who was McKay? McKay was a senior for Prairie Grove who had
never stepped onto the court to play. However, he had stayed faithful to the
team as manager for all three years. McKay was diagnosed with 22 Q 11 syndrome.
Simply put, it’s a genetic deletion that causes autistic like symptoms along with
moderate intellectual disability for McKay. He doesn’t learn very fast, he doesn’t focus
well, and has difficulty socializing. There are a lot of things he can’t do, however,
tonight it wasn’t about what he couldn’t do, but what he could do.

In the heat of defeat the Prairie Grove coach, Steve
Edminston, was trying to accept a tough loss. With all the thoughts and
emotions going on through his head he could not hear the fans chants to put McKay
in. The time kept ticking. 38 seconds to 29 seconds. Then as play continued the
Tigers committed a foul with 6.7 seconds to go.As the teams walked to the other end of the floor for the free throw,
Kyllie McCmullen, a cheer leader, went up to Coach Ed and asked if he would put
McKay in. Shock came over his face. He came back to reality and remembered his
humble manager. He turned to McKay and motioned him in. The crowd, both
Farmington and Prairie Grove, rose to their feet. He came into the game and was
a little confused of where to go. He came over to the right wing. The ball was
rolled up the court and passed to the unlikely hero. A shot, and a miss. Jeremy
Mueller, from Farmington, the opposing team, came down with the board and instead of
holding onto the ball to run out the clock he immediately passed the ball back
to McKay. From thirty feet out….BOTTOM!

The students stormed the court, the crowd cheered as one,
and a family cried in joy for their son.I have played in the rivalry. I know what it means to both towns to win.
I will never forget how love displayed after the special shot. I was sitting on
the Farmington side with my parents helping them with the broadcast. The
Farmington fans all started congratulating and hugging my mom and dad. There
was no taunting over the losers. There was complete unison for the MVP of the
night McKay.

Tonight McKay Gregson was special for another reason.
Tonight he was special for bringing peace to the storm, turning hate into love,
and rivals into friends. What can you do with 6.7 seconds?Now you know.